PhD in Legal Studies

Minimum Eligibility

12 years of schooling + a 5-year integrated BA/BBA/BSc/ LLB programme or 4-year law degree or a 2 or 3-year Bachelor’s degree followed by a 3-year LLB programme + a 2-year/1 year LLM programme from an institution recognized by the government of any of the SAARC countries, with a minimum of 50% marks or an equivalent grade.

Those who have an LLB degree followed by a one-year LLM degree must have a minimum of 60% marks to be eligible to apply.

Admission Procedure : will comprise an Entrance Test followed by an Interview. 50% of marks from the Entrance Test will be added to the second phase. Candidates will be evaluated out of an overall score of 100 (50% from the Entrance Test and 50% from the proposal, statement of purpose and interview). A minimum of 50% marks will have to be secured separately, in both the Entrance Test and the Interview, in order to be considered for admission.

Phase 1

Format of the Entrance Test Paper

The duration of the Entrance Test will be 2 hours and the question paper will consist of 50 multiple choice questions of the LLM level of two marks each. The areas from which questions may be asked will include the following:

☆ Research Methods

☆ Comparative Constitutional Law of SAARC Nations

☆ Public International Law: Sources of International Law, Relation of International Law and Municipal Law Principal of International Law, State Responsibility.

☆ The Law of International Organizations.

☆ International Trade Law: World Trade Organization (WTO) and its covered agreements

☆ International Human Rights Law: Civil and political rights, economics social and cultural rights, current developments.

Negative Marks for Wrong Answers

If the answer given to any of the multiple choice questions is wrong, ¼ of the marks assigned to that question will be deducted.

Phase 2

Those who clear the Entrance Test and are shortlisted for Interview will have to furnish two letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose, a detailed research proposal and face an interview in the second phase.

Letters of Recommendation: Shortlisted candidates must arrange to send two letters of recommendation from teachers who have taught and assessed them at the graduate/postgraduate level which should testify to the intellectual acumen of the candidates, their knowledge of the subject, their ability to articulate ideas and their sincerity and commitment towards their studies as evident from their consistently good acedemic performance. Please note that if the letters of recommendation are not received by the University by the specified date, the candidate’s eligibility to proceed further will be curtailed.

Research Proposal: Applicants are also required to submit a short research proposal of not more than 1500 words clearly indicating a research problem along with the methodology they propose to employ. It should also indicate the candidate’s understanding of the literature in the field and the relevance of the topic of research in the context of South Asia.

Statement of Purpose: Candidates must also provide a statement of purpose stating why they were motivated to undertake the proposed research, and why it should be undertaken. They should highlight the personal and subjective considerations that may have led to the conceptualization of the proposed research so that the selection panel can understand the approach the candidate is proposing and his/her background.

Interview: Candidates up to four times the number of seats available will be called for the interview either in person or via telephone/Skype/satellite. The interview will focus on the information provided in the research proposal, statement of purpose and the letters of recommendation. Candidates will be evaluated on the basis of their oral presentation skills and ability to articulate complex ideas.

50% of the seats are reserved for candidates from India and the other 50% for candidates from SAARC countries other than India, taken together. Separate merit lists will be prepared for candidates from India and the other SAARC countries combined.

The final merit list will be drawn on the basis of candidates’ performance in the written test and interview.